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FIB - Scams 101 - Ye Olde Archives
Posted By: Agent Lindsey and Miller In Response To: Re: National Capital Funding Group (Linda)
Tuesday, 14 December 2004, at 6:19 p.m.
>This company more than likely is a scam. I called the company several times yesterday and spoke with different individuals, using a fictitious name out of Illinois. The first person I spoke with asked if I had a valid social security number and a bank account. I said yes to the first question, no to the second. He informed me to get a checking account and call back. He then promptly hung up. Undaunted, I called back right away and spoke with Michele who asked the same questions. This time I told her I had a checking account. She gave all the details of what was requested on my part and what the company would do in return for the $89.00. I mentioned that I had the experience and know-how of collecting the information thru courthouses and the internet—why would I need them to train me how to do something I already have knowledge about? Getting a little annoyed, she informed me that the $89.00 was to insure that the people who work for the company actually do the work and follow all the instructions on the video. “Besides,” she said, “you will be reimbursed on the first paycheck.” I countered: “Well how do I know that if I send a letter to the customer that you and the customer will do business without me?” Her only answer was, “Why would we not want to pay you for your work?” Because, I stated, “you are asking me to trust your company, a company that I have no way of physically seeing; as far as I’m concerned you’re sitting in your washroom taking a dump.” She could not satisfy my question. Needless to say, I was not too impressed. I disconnected the call and decided to look for info on this company.
This company is not a franchise company. Any person interested in working for a franchise has to pay a nominal fee (usually a pretty hefty one at that), before they can work as part of the company and be a franchisee. This is not the case with this company, however. They are an LLC and can use subcontractors to perform a variety of tasks that they deem necessary to carry out the functions of their business. In this case the company uses people, like you and me, to do the research (allegedly) on providing them mortgage information for people who are in up to their neck in debt.
To pay $89.00 for a training video does not seem relevant for what is being requested of people who already know their business in this field and really don’t need it. What’s the difference if I went out and got the same customer that Joe Blow got with the training? What if Joe Blow got his training and decided that he didn’t like working for the company anymore, what would stop him from distributing that knowledge to other people and making a profit? Regardless of whether the video is licensed or not, is the company that stupid to give out a training video on how to make money for the company to some stranger? Also, what if Blow didn’t like the training he was getting and felt that he should get a refund? Chances are he would not get his refund back. It’s kind of like buying a movie off the street for half the price and getting back home only to discover that someone took a video camera and filmed the entire movie, and as the movie plays you hear someone eating popcorn and people chatting in the background.
It would seem that if the company really was interested in whether people had the training or not, they might request from individuals evidence that they had the skill and know-how to go out and get the information requested. As such, for what the company pays in shipping and handling costs as well as the costs of the CD over a year’s period, they might want to invest in a training module that can be done on-line. Furthermore, the company may want to require a certain skill-set to be in place prior to working for them, not upfront money, because not everybody has the ability to put the time and effort to make the kind of money they suggest can be made.
If this company really cared at all about the people who work for them as well as the company’s image, you would think they would be more concerned about the long-term affects of the outcome than what they propose in their initial ad program on these job-sites that are geared towards people who are out of work and need money. And as such, they will find that in an economy and time of social turmoil and distrust (it hasn’t even been three years since Enron, Arthur Anderson, and a host of other misguided, overzealous and greedy companies), to create an image for your business (if it is really legitimate) that has people wondering about the ethical and moral values from that which draws immediate attention, gives the impression that there are many more stones that are left to be overturned.
This is all about numbers folks: The more people the company can get to call them, regardless of investigations, they are bound to get that one individual who will be willing to give them, not only the $89.00, but the SSN and checking account routing number as well. Hell, they may even ask if they can do a credit card number over the phone. With the use of internet job-sites, this particular company has probably purchased several of these sites (Monster, as an example) for a mere fraction of the cost of doing business (as was noted above, the money they invest into these web-sites could better be used to build their own site with enhanced training for those who qualify—if they gave a damn at all); The fact that they can get responses from all over the US posses a monumental revenue curve that should prove interesting to the IRS. Here’s some interesting numbers to look at: The populations of all 50 states are roughly 860,320,000+ mil households. At .002%, that equates to $15,313,696.00 or, 172,064 suckers who bought into the business.
On the whole of it, however, it’s hard to tell what the legal ramifications are of running such a company, if any. Apparently they have not over-stepped themselves on Federal guidelines concerning the Uniform Commercial Code, at least as far as I know. However, the fact that they tell potential workers that they are considered sub-contractors, and request people to pay money up front for a device that may or may not be of help in the first place may stir a few eyebrows on the issue of false advertising. In addition, liability and negligence may raise a flag regarding subcontract workers who may or may not be legal workers in the US.
Jobs are scarce, it’s the holiday season, and people (including me) are running scared and thinking hard about careers for the foreseeable future. Companies like this thrive on taking advantage of people who are legitimately looking to improve their current and future lifestyle where jobs are few and far between. It’s a damn shame that numerous companies and some small businesses have strayed away from the moral and ethical standards of conducting business in the interests of ill-begotten capital gains.
As one careful investigator was able to find, the web-site of FBAA is actually run by NCFG www.fbaa.us/companies/ncfg.htm. Hmmmmmmmmmm…now about those other rocks I had mentioned….
Hello -- I also responded to a classified ad from this company offering
> "work from home" research to develop leads for privately held
> mortgages and trust deeds. They require $89 upfront for software -- which
> they said is refundable at the time of your first sale. I contacted the
> Chamber of Commerce in Chandler, AZ and determined that the address I was
> given for this company is a mail drop only. Further, the Chandler, AZ
> licensing dept does not have a license for this company. The
> nationalcfg.com website offers a link to an organization called the Fair
> Business Assoc of America which is intended to validate their business
> practices but the Arizona Better Business Bureau knows nothing of this
> reporting agency and felt that it was likely a website set up by National
> CFG. I initially became suspicious when the National CFG representative
> very abruptly ended my call when I asked if they belonged to the Chandler
> AZ Chamber of Commerce.